Right now our petition has the 4th most signatures. We’d like to get 50,000 signatures in total. This would give us more support than any other online petition, and keep the pressure on the Trudeau government to act quickly, stop arrests, and get going on legalization.

The Parliament Petition has eight key points, four of which can happen right away, and four that could take a year or so to put into place.

The first four points, which should happen right away, are:

1. Repeal the prohibition on possession and personal cultivation of cannabis.

This the most important first step and could be done very quickly. We are calling for the Liberal government to immediately stop all arrests for personal possession and for growing cannabis for personal use. There is no need to keep busting people with a bag of cannabis or a few plants when legalization is just around the corner.

2. Repeal Section 462.2 of the Criminal Code, which bans literature and harm reduction devices like waterpipes and vaporizers.

Unbelievably, bongs and waterpipes are still banned in Canada, and stores still get raided by police for selling these items. (See here, here and here for example.) Books which promote the use of cannabis are also still banned. It makes sense to repeal these silly laws right away.

3. Permit patients or their designated grower to provide medical cannabis as recommended by a physician.

4. End police raids against community medical cannabis dispensaries, and enable their municipal regulation, as per the position of the Union of BC Municipalities.

There are hundreds of community medical cannabis dispensaries opening in cities and towns across Canada. Generally they are operating openly without problems, but in some areas the RCMP has been threatening them or launching raids. Many cities are licensing these dispensaries, but the federal laws are unclear.

7. For those convicted for a cannabis offence under the CDSA, on a case-by-case basis: Grant a full pardon and amnesty for past offences, expunge criminal records and release all prisoners currently serving time.

Ending cannabis prohibition must also make right the mistakes of the past. When we legalize cannabis we must not forget those who are still in jail now for cannabis, or the many Canadians with cannabis criminal records. We want a quick and easy process for Canadians to apply to have their cannabis criminal records expunged.

8. Permit Provinces, Territories and First Nations to decide how they want to tax, regulate and distribute cannabis as needed.

This final point is that we don’t want to see a restrictive federal program in place for cannabis. Like alcohol and tobacco, legal cannabis falls mainly under provincial jurisdiction. We want to see the provinces, municipalities and first nations being responsible for regulating the sale of cannabis.

This will also open up the possibility of different systems, enabling different regions to experiment with different models as we figure out the best model for legal cannabis.

About Author

Dana Larsen is the author of "Green Buds and Hash" and "Hairy Pothead and the Marijuana Stone" and a well-known Vancouver cannabis activist, businessman and politician.
He served ten years as editor of Cannabis Culture Magazine, is the co-founder of the Vancouver Seed Bank, founder of the Vancouver Dispensary Society, and Vice President of the Canadian Association of Cannabis Dispensaries.
Larsen was a founding member of the BC Marijuana Party and the Canadian Marijuana Party. In 2003 he joined the NDP, running as an NDP candidate in 2008. In 2011, he ran for the Leadership of the BC NDP.
Larsen is also founder and director of Sensible BC, Canada’s largest grassroots cannabis reform organization.